


masked.

by openbooksonthegrass



Category: Frühlings Erwachen | Spring Awakening - Frank Wedekind, Spring Awakening - Sheik/Sater
Genre: 1800s AU, Broadway, DWSA - Freeform, F/M, Glee - Freeform, Jonathan Groff - Freeform, Lea Michele - Freeform, M/M, Musicals, Theatre, alex boniello - Freeform, ali stroker - Freeform, andy mientus - Freeform, austin mckenzie, daniel durant, hanschen is hot, john gallagher jr, jonathan b wright, lauren pritchard - Freeform, lilli cooper, masquerade au, musical theatre, spring awakening - Freeform, the first chapter took me three hours pls help me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:14:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22867711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/openbooksonthegrass/pseuds/openbooksonthegrass
Summary: early 1800s au where the characters of spring awakening attend a masquerade ball. some find love, others make mistakes.
Relationships: Hanschen Rilow/Ernst Robel, Martha Bessell/Moritz Stiefel, Wendla Bergmann/Melchior Gabor
Comments: 7
Kudos: 9





	1. ~one~

**Author's Note:**

> just a quick warning that even though this is set in the 1800s i am terrible at mastering dialect so im sorry that they all sound like modern teenagers lMao  
> word count: 2220

Finally ready, Wendla Bergmann stepped out of the bathroom, and brushed down the front of her teal dress, nervously anticipating her friends' reactions to her outfit for tonight's masquerade ball. She had spent a good 45 minutes in there, tying up the corset she was wearing and plaiting her hair up exactly right- but she was finally ready. And in good timing too. She and her friends had been getting ready for the ball since 5 o'clock at Anna's house, and they still had an hour to go before they needed to set off to the dance.

Everybody had been invited to the ball, from ages 15 to 25, and it was from 7pm to exactly midnight. The weeks leading up to it had been incrediby exciting (mostly for the young girls of the town, who were absolutely desperate to dance with the boys they liked) and it was probably the biggest event to happen in their small village in a while.

"Wendla, you look so pretty!!" her bubbly friend, Anna Wheelan, exclaimed, admiring Wendla's chiffon dress, and the white butterflies attached to the neckline. "How did you get your hair to look like that??"

The brown haired girl laughed graciously. Her chocolate-coloured hair was in a chunky plait, with little white flowers clipped in it. After much consideration, she had decided to go for a sort of fairy-queen style, since she had always felt appeal to fairytale fantasies. In fact, that was one of the reasons she was thrilled about the idea of a ball- because so many stories took place at dances: Cinderella, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Sleeping Beauty. Since she was little, she had always wanted to feel like a princess with magical powers, like all the girls in those books.

And now she did. The dress she was wearing didn't have layers, just a skirt that would flow back in the wind, as if she were some kind of water nymph.

"Thea, its your turn to get changed now, the bathroom is free." Martha Bessell (who was probably the quietest of their friendship group) said, gesturing to the open door of Anna's bathroom.

Thea leapt up from her chair and grabbed her pale green dress, and closed the bathroom door behind her.

"Would you like me to do your make up?" Martha offered kindly.

Wendla nodded her head. "Yes, please, that would be really helpful."

Martha gently held her face, and started sweeping her soft cheeks with a brush that had a pink powder on the end of it. "Anna, how do your parents let you have so much make up?" Wendla asked curiously. "My mama would never allow it."

Anna shrugged. "It's not for everyday use. Just for special occaions, like this one. Hey, can you pass me the yellow eyeshadow?"

Quickly, Martha paused doing Wendla's face for a second, and passed Anna the requested item, before continuing to give Wendla pinker cheeks. 

Anna was wearing a bright yellow ballgown. It was fairly simple in its design, but on the front, there were small, clear gems sewn on. It suited Anna a lot, because she had long blonde hair (she had plaited the front of it and left the back of it to flown down past her shoulders) and slightly tanned skin that complimented the dress well. "Martha, are you sure you don't want any make up?"

"Quite sure, Anna." Martha said sternly, now getting a lip-rouger for Wendla and dabbing it on the smaller girl's lips carefully, so it wouldn't smudge.

"Not even a red rouge?" Anna protested. "It would look so good, because your dress is red too. It would match."

As Anna said, Martha was wearing a velvet dress that was a deep shade of wine-red. It gave the usually shy girl an aura of confidence about her. The front had silver lining sewn onto it, along with a star inbetween her bosom that was made from some glittering gems. She had topped it off with a minimalistic-looking pearl necklace.

Wendla had to admit, she was surprised Martha was wearing it. Normally, Martha's parents were very strict about what her friend wore, and probably wouldn't have paid for something as expensive as that. However, Martha had revealed to her that it had come with strict rules that she had to obey (one of them being no make up).

The other girl sighed. "Anna, I said no. Papa says I'm never allowed to wear make up because he doesnt want other boys- I mean he doesn't want boys to start liking me. He thinks I'm too young."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Who cares what Papa says? The worst he can do is tell you off." she said absent-mindedly, checking her reflection in the mirror, and setting her brush down.

"I care what Papa says." Martha said, now applying a pale blue eye shadow to Wendla. It wasn't going to be excessive, just a little bit so it would match what she was wearing but not make her look out-landish. "Anna, nobody would be able to see it anyway, because we're wearing masks. So the effort would just be going to waste."

"You're such a drag, Martha." Anna said. "Oh well, nobody's forcing you."

"You're all ready, Wendla." Martha told her. Wendla turned round and thought about what could happen tonight.

Maybe she would meet a boy, a really charming and smart and handsome boy who would ask her to dance, and they would waltz for a while. Of course, her friends would laugh and give her knowing looks, but she would just smile because this boy would be holding her in his arms. Then they would take a seat, and perhaps have wine or champagne, and they would get to know each other. They'd learn each other's names (she would probably die if it was someone she disliked, though) and have polite conversation. Finally, they would take a walk through the palace gardens, with the orchesta-music playing in the distance, perhaps hold hands and then they would exchange addresses so they could write to each other- and he would have her back home by midnight. It was playing out perfectly in her head right now.

However, her fantasies were interrupted by Thea finally leaving the bathroom. "What'd I miss??" she asked brightly. The small girl had chosen to wear a pale green, lacey dress, which had pearls emroided at her neckline. As for her hair, it was now in curls (which she had managed to achieve by having them plaited two days beforehand, and undoing them just now). "How do I look?"

"You look great, Thea." Martha reassured her calmly.

Wendla nodded in agreement. "Mhm. You look like... like a wood nymph!!"

Thea laughed, her dark brown eyes flashing, before sitting down next to Anna. "What were we talking about before I went?"

"Only how Martha refuses to wear make up to the ball." Anna said mischieviously.

Martha shook her head. "Anna, we are not having this discussion again."

"Yes we are!" the other girl replied dismissively, laughing again. "I don't understand. You should have fun for once in a while. Look- your hair is still in plaits- which you always wear."

"They're a different style of plaits." Martha protested defensively. "Anyway, like with make up, Papa doesn't let me wear my hair out of plaits."

"Doesn't it hurt, though?" Wendla asked curiously.

For a moment, a flash of fear appeared on Martha's tan face. She looked afraid of something- or someone. Like a deer in the headlights. She self-conciously touched her arm. "Does what hurt?"

"I meant the plaits, Martha. You always have to wear them up and wear them tight and never let them flow loose for once."

Martha looked visibly more relaxed once Wendla explained the plaits. "I mean, sometimes-"

"Then have some fun! Try something new!" Thea proposed excitedly.

"Surely you want to impress a special someone tonight? After all, this is really when we can make ourselves look magical, instead of wearing itchy stocking and cotton dresses all the time." Anna added on encouragingly.

"You know Melchi Gabor is going to be at the ball tonight?" Thea said excitedly. "With boys like him there, there's every reason to get dressed up and pretty."

As soon as Thea brought up Melchior Gabor, Wendla could almost feel it in her bones that everyone was doing a collective eye roll, whether it was internally or not. They all knew about Thea's huge crush on him. It was like whenever he walked past them, her younger friend's IQ dropped down to forty (maybe less). Part of her wanted to be sensible, like Martha, and feel irritated about it. But the other part of her thought 'well who could blame Thea'? He was, of course, very handsome, and apparently he was really smart too. In fact, whenever Melchior came by, she could feel herself turning a little pink. But who wouldn't, with him around?

"Well, Melchior Gabor is very attractive, but maybe not so much as Hanschen Rilow." Anna replied, sounding a little giddy.

"Anna, you know he's my brother. If you and him started... seeing each other... I would have to stop being your friend." Thea sighed. "Do you know how many girls have asked me to arrange some kind of meeting between them and my brother?"

"Calm down, Thea. He may be very good-looking but I would never try to, you know, court him or anything. He's too serious for me." Anna replied nonchalantly, tossing her golden-blonde hair back. "What I'm looking for is somebody who can let loose and have a joke and play around with me. Not a modern Shakespeare."

"What, like Otto Lammemier?" Wendla suggested cheekily. It was quite obvious that Otto had a thing for Anna, and it had been going on for about a year now. He always made excuses to try and talk to her- which Martha, Wendla and Anna regarded with heavy amusement. It was blatantly obvious that Anna did not like him much, which often made them collapse into fits of laughter.

Anna grabbed her hairbrush, as if she were about to beat Wendla over the head with it. "Wendla Bergmann, don't you dare!!" she exclaimed crossly.

Nimbly, Wendla moved behind Martha as Anna threw it at her, to avoid the flying brush. It was unneccessary to do that though, because it ended up landing a few feet away from her. Anna didn't have the best aim. Instead of further pursuing the matter however, she directed the focus to Martha. "Of course, we all know who Martha loves." she teased jubilantly.

Martha's face turned red, and she lowered her head in embarrassment. "Please stop." she mumbled, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Moritz Stiefel!" Anna added, sounding entertained.

"As if you could compare him to somebody like, say, Melchior Gabor or Bobby Maler." Thea scoffed. "What do you see in him Martha?"

Martha blushed again. "He just looks so deep- and brooding, and just... soulful." she said, smiling dreamily at the thought of him.

"He's so pathetic, and weak too." Thea replied, arching an eyebrow sarcastically. She could be very sharp-tongued, when she wanted to be. "I'm not surprised he fails all his exams. He's probably too stupid."

"You don't know that!" Martha responded, a hint of anger appearing in her usually soft voice. "Just leave him alone, ok??"

"Alright." Thea decided testily. "And what about you Wendla?"

"I don't think I love anybody right now." Wendla said thoughtfully. "I think some people are attractive, but I wouldn't dream of asking anyone to marry me, or to take me out for a romantic walk, you know?"

"Mhm, I understand what you mean." Anna said, nodding her blonde head understandingly. "Well, we have all of tonight to meet somebody special and dance with. And it looks as if we have to go now, or else we'll be late and we won't be able to get a dance partner."

The girls all reached for their masks, and tied them round their heads tight, so they wouldn't fall off. Anna had opted for a yellow one- to match her sunshine-coloured dress, with golden rings round the eyes. Thea had chosen a white one that had green gems patterned all over it; and Martha had a rouge mask, with white swirls painted intricately all over.

Wendla tied her own blue mask around her eyes. It was the shape of a butterfly, and azure in colour. There were clean white pearls stuck to the edges of the wings. As from now, you could only see her grey eyes, that had silver tinges orbitting her pupils. She felt like a woman, despite being only sixteen. She felt like those princesses she used to read about as a little girl. She felt that she was going to have someone fall in love with her tonight. And she was certain that she would fall for them too.

"Wendla, stop staring at yourself in the mirror, we need to go!" Thea's voice rang out, like a warning bell.

"Sorry." Wendla said hurriedly, and followed her best friends down the stairs, out of the house and into the dusky evening, where their carriage awaited.


	2. ~two~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> melchior and moritz arrive to the masquerade ball, and melchior spots a girl in a blue dress that he can't take his eyes off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry melchritz isnt gonna happen in this like i love melchritz but realistically it wouldn't happen because the statistic is one in four people having same-sex attraction and hanschen and ernst already have that spot taken,,, and i also wanted an excuse to write marthritz so uh take melchior and moritz friendship scene lmaoaoao
> 
> also the ball takes place at a random mansion owned by the richest person in the village and idk who that would be anyways just take it ok
> 
> word count- 1570

Melchior Gabor stepped out of the carriage carefully and looked around at the gardens in front of the mansion in admiration. Under the hazy orange dusk of the sun setting, it seemed romantic and mysterious. There was the faint sound of a cricket chirping as he helped his nervous friend Moritz Stiefel out, before they stopped and stared at the luxury surrounding them. The roses that would normally be a blood red appeared in a deep pink instead. He glanced around to make sure that nobody was watching, and then plucked one from its bush and slid it inside his chest pocket.

"You okay, Moritz?" he asked his friend, noticing he seemed more jittery than usual.

"Mhm." Moritz nodded slowly. "Just a little nervous." However, Melchior knew Moritz too well to know he was just 'nervous' like he claimed.

"Moritz, you're going to be fine, honestly." he reassured him gently. "You're wearing a mask. Nobody will know its you."

As he said his, Moritz adjusted his mask self-consciously. "Melchi, what if they recognise my voice? They're not stupid."

A group of chattering girls walked past them, giggling excitedly, and one of them barged past Moritz while Melchior tried to comfort him calmly.

"See?" he protested frustratedly, rubbing his arm. "They don't know who I am and they still probably did that on purpose."

Sighing, the smaller boy ran a hand through his hair and tried again. "Moritz, they probably didn't mean to. They most likely don't even recognise you if you know them, and it was probably an accident. They were probably too excited about the ball to notice. It is getting dark, after all, so they could have thought you were smaller than you are."

"Maybe." he responded doubtfully. "I really don't want to do this, Melchi."

Melchior simply pulled Moritz into a comforting hug. At first, he stiffened as his arms wrapped around him, but he slowly felt more relaxed. Melchior was good at helping him feel better. He still didn't suppose that he was that much more confident now, but he had assisted him a bit. He decided that maybe he would stick around here for a bit- if not for a girl he wasn't even sure he was going to meet, then for his friend to keep him some sort of company for a while.

"You can do this, alright?" he told him firmly. "I believe in you, Moritz."

There was a pause as they continued to hug. Finally, Moritz pulled away from Melchior's consoling grip and nodded his head slightly more surely than before. "Okay, fine."

"I knew you could." Melchior replied, smiling upliftingly. "It's getting cold out here, let's go inside."

So the two boys walked past the neatly trimmed hedges and the well-controlled flowers at the front of the mansion, and entered the building. The first thing they saw as soon as they stepped foot inside was just how extravagent the ballroom was. There were diamond chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings, glinting magically- almost as if they were stars. The ceilings themselves had incredibly ornate paintings of god-like men seated comfortably in clouds as women with long, golden-red hair and pink-tinted skin fed them plump and purple grapes. They were struck with admiration as they gazed around in wonder. They had only ever seen expenses like these in the pictures of books they had read as children. It was one thing seeing places like this printed in a book with a description underneath- but it was another to see it up close, in reality, and touchable.

"This is...different." Moritz said hoarsely, swallowing out of worry.

"It's certainly is beautiful." the other commented appreciatively. "Should we find ourselves a table?"

"I mean- I guess so."

Melchior leading the way, the two navigated their way through the dancing pairs in the centre of the ballroom hesitantly. There were at least 100 or so elegant people here, seemingly dancing through life with their equally refined-looking partners. It was exactly like a dream (to Melchior, anyway. Moritz regarded it as more of a nightmare, considering how many people there were here). Like puppets, the people dancing turned at almost the exact same times as each other, obediently following their companion's moves. As they did, skirts of silk and satin and velvet swished mesmerisingly. It was hypnotic, the way they waltzed in time to the haunting sound of violins. Melchior had to internally reprimand himself so he wouldn't just abandon Moritz altogether and grab the gloved hand of the nearest girl so they could dance. 

Soon enough, they discovered a free table, with a red cloth over it and a clear vase that held a single rose.

Melchior was the first to speak after they sat down. "Jesus, I still can't believe we're actually here." 

"Melchi, I don't know how I'm going to survive here." Moritz said miserably, running a stressed hand through his almost wild hair. "Whoever I end up talking to here's just going to judge me. And dislike me. Like everybody else who's ever spoken to me before."

"Moritz, have you even noticed the way Martha Bessell looks at you? I'm sure she feels something towards you."

Moritz laughed disbelievingly and shook his head. "Martha Bessell is friends with Anna Wheelan and Thea Rilow, and out of my league. She probably barely knows I exist, let alone likes me."

"That's not true. Martha is quieter than them, and calmer." Melchior pressed on further. "She always blushes when you go by."

"She's probably blushing at you, if anything."

"Moritz I don't believe that. You two seem like you would go well together."

"Please Melchi. Just drop it for now."

Melchior nodded and sighed. He glanced around, before a girl in a blue dress standing timidly at the side of the ballroom caught his eye. She was very pretty too- from what he could make out anyway, since she was a long way away, and was wearing a mask. Her deep brown hair flowed in an elegant plait past her shoulders and in the golden candle light, it almost had a glow surrounding it too. There was some sort of capitivating nature around her. He couldn't describe it- he just felt drawn to her, like a moth to a lightbulb. Their eyes briefly connected for a split-second across the room, inbetween the men in crisp suits and the women in lavish gowns. For that moment, there was nobody but them: her pair of silver grey eyes stared into his blue ones. But then, a couple stepped inbetween them, and the hypnotising girl was lost once again in the skirts and the hairdos and the flowers.

Wistfully, he sighed a bit too loudly.

"Melchi, who were you staring at for so long?" Moritz asked dubiously. "You kinda zoned out a bit."

He looked back to his friend quickly. "Just a girl. She was very beautiful, thats all." he said shortly, trying not to elaborate on this strange sensation growing inside of him.

"Melchi, you can ask her to dance if you want. I don't really mind."

"It's fine. I can't see her anymore anyway." he replied dismissively.

"I don't want to feel like I'm weighing you down." Moritz protested quietly. "It doesn't matter to me, really. Go have fun."

Now it was Melchior's turn to swallow nervously, like how Moritz had done earlier. This wasn't him. He was supposed to be the confident, I-Don't-Really-Give-A-Fuck-About-What-You-Say one. Not the one who got worried over the prospect of some girl. "Are you absolutely okay with that?"

"Yeah." Moritz shrugged, seemingly indifferently. "She could be your future, for all I know."

"I- thanks, Moritz." he said finally, as he stood up and pushed his chair under the table. "I'll see you around, either later tonight or at school on Monday."

Moritz muttered a slightly regretful "goodbye" (though Melchior didn't pay attention to the slight tinge of sadness in his voice), and then he set off once again through the maze of men and women to locate the mystery girl- whoever she happened to be.

He had to admit that he did feel bad for leaving Moritz back. But he didn't come just to keep Moritz company: he had also come to have a good time; meet a pretty girl or two; and feel like every luxury was at his fingertips for three or four hours. Besides, he didn't want to make Moritz feel like he was a piece of laundry hanging off Melchior's line. If he persisted that he was okay with him leaving then surely he shouldn't need to doubt him. Moritz could look after himself.

His ponderings came to a halt as he caught sight of the girl in blue again- only this time he had a proper, up-close view of her.

Right, he decided firmly. She's less than ten meters away from you. It's now or never.

And so he summoned all his courage, and extended his hand.


End file.
